Brendan Baker drug dealer appeals conviction on major drug charges
Brendan Leigh Baker’s shirtless selfies helped prosecutors lock him up on major drug charges, but now he says he should be a free man.
Canberra Star
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A Canberra cafe owner whose lavish displays of ill-gotten wealth on Instagram helped prosecutors lock him up for more than a decade says he has been wrongly convicted.
Brendan Leigh Baker, 29, was last year sentenced to 13 years and eight months jail with a seven year non-parole period on a string of major drug charges.
Baker pleaded not guilty at trial last year, and appeared in the ACT Court of Criminal Appeal on Tuesday where his barrister, Beth Morrisroe, argued the jury should have had a doubt about the credibility and reliability of key prosecution witness, Paul McCauley.
Ms Morrisroe said the panel of three judges should be left with a “lingering doubt about whether an innocent man has been convicted”.
Ms Morrisroe also questioned the police handling of a notebook found at Baker’s share house, which they argued had handwritten notes documenting drug deals.
The handwriting, Ms Morrisroe said, was never analysed by an expert, and was found in a common area of the house.
At trial, Baker’s lawyers argued Mr McCauley was himself a drug dealer who gave evidence as part of a deal which would let him avoid serving jail time.
Baker’s lawyers also argued he legitimately bankrolled his lavish lifestyle with his Kingston cafe, a home renovation business and a building supplies shop.
Despite the argument, prosecutors convinced the jury Baker’s lifestyle could only have been sustained by dealing large amounts of drugs.
Baker’s social media accounts — shown to the jury at trial — show him posing beside his prized Mercedes Benz, which he bragged to his ex-girlfriend was the equivalent of some people’s full-time wage for a year.
The trial also heard he once covered most of his bed in $50 bills.
Baker’s lawyers, at trial, argued his showy lifestyle was an example of “a young man desperately trying to impress his friends, potential girlfriends and even his nanna”.
In court on Tuesday, Baker appeared in a crumpled designer suit the same man bun hairstyle he flaunted in his social media photos.
Justice David Mossop, Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson and Justice Wendy Abraham have reserved their decision on the appeal.
